It's Far From Over: Pete's World
by charming-witch
Summary: This was written as a backstory for my Multi-Crossover fic 'It's Far From Over'. It can be read on its own, but will end in a bit of a Cliffanger (which will be solved in the Crossover story). It focuses on Rose and her Doctor in the alternate reality. Rose/10.5, AU!Gwen/AU!Jack
1. Chapter 1

Title: It's Far From Over: Pete's World

Rating: T

Genre: sci-fi, adventure, drama, romance, het, AU

Fandoms: Doctor Who & Torchwood

Characters: **Rose Tyler, the Doctor** (10.5, 10.2, Handy, or whatever else you want to call him), AU!Gwen Cooper, AU!Jack Harkness, mentions of others

Pairings: Rose/10.5, AU!Gwen/AU!Jack

Summary: Rose & her Doctor in the alternate reality

Author notes: This was written as a backstory for my Multi-Crossover fic 'It's Far From Over'. It can be read on its own, but will end in a bit of a Cliffanger (which will be solved in the Crossover story).

Setting: The story is set in the Alternate reality after the events of Doctor Who season 4.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or fandoms. I wish I did. I don't make any money with this! I just write for fun and hope someone else will enjoy it, too.

Spoiler Warnings: Doctor Who up to the end of season 4. Not much for Torchwood, since it is all AU for it.

Other Warnings: This is more of a series of ficlets than a whole story. It shows what Rose and 10.5 have been up to in the alternate reality.

There will be a character death.

Like always I do write from multiple points of views to give more insight into the different characters. Don't like it don't read it! No need to complain about it.

I'm German and my English isn't and probably never will be perfect. I hope I don't make too many mistakes. Feel free to point out errors so I can learn and improve.

Thank you to my beta landiana24 on lj for betaing this! :-)

xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx

When: about 3 months after 4.13 Journey's End

Where: AU Cardiff

"So, you're the specialists from Torchwood 1?" a voice asked, making Rose Tyler turn around in surprise. She stared at the man approaching her, before a smile appeared on her lips.

"Captain Jack Harkness," he introduced himself with a flirtatious grin. "And who are you?"

Rose chuckled slightly and bit down the 'I know' remark that was on the tip of her tongue. Then she glanced at the Doctor who was standing next to her smirking in an amused way before grinning from ear to ear.

"Nice to meet you, Captain Jack Harkness," the Doctor said shaking Jack's outstretched hand enthusiastically.

"A pleasure," Rose agreed shaking Jack's hand as well. When Pete had sent her and the Doctor out to Cardiff to help the local team with an alien problem she had had no idea who they were going to meet there. It was a pleasant surprise. She really missed Jack a lot and they had barely had any time to reconnect during the brief time she had been back in her own universe. That actually was one of the reasons why she was pissed at the Doctor, the _real_ one. He just dumped her in this reality again, without giving her any time back home. She would have liked to spend more time with Jack, in addition to wanting to be with the real Doctor of course. But he hadn't cared, hadn't let her make the decision for herself. He simply brought her back here and left her with her mother and the _other_ Doctor. She sighed before pushing those thoughts away. Nothing good would come from dwelling on them, and besides, she kind of did have a Jack Harkness back in her life now, didn't she? He might not be the Jack she knew, but it was better than nothing, just like the Doctor she had was better than nothing. She would simply have to take what she could get. What other choice did she have?

"Jack," a woman said in a reprimanding, but also amused kind of voice. "Leave them alone."

Rose looked at her and her smile widened. It was Gwen Cooper, who seemed to be working for Torchwood 3 in this reality, too. And she still looked exactly like Gwyneth, Rose thought, remembering the young woman she had met in 1869, back when she just started travelling with the Doctor.

"Just saying hello," Jack stated, using the same old line as always. Rose chuckled, but before she could say anything Torchwood 3 leader Lisa Hallet arrived and offered them a tour through the HUB.

xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx

A few hours later Rose, the Doctor, Jack and Gwen were running through Cardiff, chasing aliens and having the time of their lives. Rose could barely remember the last time she had had that much fun. It didn't even matter anymore that the Doctor wasn't the real Doctor or that Gwen and Jack were alternate versions of the people she had met before. They were with her, they were her friends, and it was enough. She was finally happy again.

xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx

"So, what's going on with you and the Doctor?" Gwen asked three days after Rose and the Doctor arrived in Cardiff.

Rose glanced at the other woman a little uncertainly. "What do you mean?" she asked innocently, not really wanting to get into it. Since coming to Cardiff she had felt closer to the Doctor than before, but she still wasn't entirely sure how she felt about him. Did she love him? He wasn't the real Doctor, wasn't actually the man she fell in love with, but he was just like him, apart from a few tiny personality traits that he seemed to have inherited from Donna Noble, like calling 'oi' a lot. She didn't mind those either, they were kind of endearing. Still, could she be with him, knowing that the man she fell in love with was still out there, and that he had abandoned her? That part was bothering her, too. Would the Doctor that stayed in this reality with her abandon her one day as well?

"Oh, come on, I saw how he looks at you," Gwen stated. "And the way you sometimes look at him, too."

Rose sighed. "It's complicated."

"Tell me about it," Gwen insisted, but Rose wasn't really sure where to begin.

"How about you tell me about you and Jack instead," she said, trying to change the subject.

Gwen sighed dreamily and decided that maybe if she shared something Rose would do the same. "We met at a bar. He used one of his cheesy pick up lines on me," she started and laughed slightly.

"But you couldn't help but succumb to his charms anyway?" Rose suggested.

"Who wouldn't?" Gwen asked.

"Yeah," Rose agreed with a slight laugh. She couldn't imagine anyone being immune to Jack's charm. She certainly hadn't been, even though she had sort of still been with Mickey and was already falling in love with the Doctor when she first met Jack.

"He later admitted that he had been watching me, because he knew I worked for Torchwood. He said he needed help capturing aliens that had come back in time from the 51st century, the same century he was from. He's a time agent from the future, Rose," Gwen went on. It was the first time she told anyone who Jack really was. She hadn't told Lisa, Ianto, Owen or even Tosh. Jack did that himself later, or at least she thought he did. She had no idea how exactly he managed to get Lisa to hire him. And she wasn't sure either why she never told them in the beginning. They would have believed her of course, and they were all kind of friends, definitely more than just co-workers, but she never felt the same kind of connection to them that she did to Rose. The two of them simply hit it off from the moment they met. She had the feeling she could tell her anything, and for some reason she felt like Rose would not be surprised about a time traveller from the future at all. She didn't really know why, but she was sure Rose had seen a lot more in her life than most Torchwood employees.

Rose looked at Gwen a little surprised. So Jack was still a time agent in this reality? Interesting!

"I know he's from the 51st century, Gwen," she said, deciding that if Gwen told her the truth about Jack she could tell her about herself, too. "I kind of already knew Jack before I came here, and I met you before, too. Well, sort of… I am from an alternate reality," she started, then told Gwen the whole story, how she met the Doctor, how she ended up in this world, went back and ended up here once more, this time with a Doctor.

xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx

"I made us dinner reservations for tomorrow night," Gwen said two days later whilst she and Rose were scouting out an old abandoned warehouse. Torchwood had picked up unusual energy readings in the area. Upon arrival Gwen had pulled Rose aside and went with her to one of the warehouses, leaving Jack and the Doctor to check the other one. "We're going on a double date."

Rose groaned. Gwen seemed to be determined to make sure she and the Doctor became a couple. She probably shouldn't have told her the whole story, but it had felt so good to finally talk to someone about everything. Her feelings were so conflicted and confusing. She had hoped speaking about it would give her clarity. So far it hadn't. Gwen however didn't seem to get that. In her opinion the solution to the whole mess was to start dating the Doctor and see where things went.

"I told you I'm not sure I want a relationship," she said.

"I know, but going on a date will help you figure that out. I promise," Gwen replied.

Rose groaned once more. She had a feeling Gwen just wanted her to be with the Doctor. Maybe she was simply so in love that she wanted Rose to have a happy ending, too, or she generally loved to meddle in others love-lives. She didn't know Gwen long enough to be sure about that.

Before Rose had a chance to say anything else she heard a noise. Turning around she saw someone jump out from behind a stack of boxes, something that looked a lot like a gun in his hand. The next second the gun went off and Gwen pushed her out of the way.

Hiding behind another stack of boxes Rose pulled her own gun. "Looks like this warehouse isn't as abandoned as we thought," she stated.

"I guess not," Gwen said next to Rose whilst pulling her own gun. Then she quickly tapped her ear-piece. "Jack, we're under attack."

"_We're on our way_," came the answer.

Rose peered over the stack of boxes and was rewarded with another shot, which barely missed her head. Cursing she ducked.

xxxxx xxxxx

The Doctor ran off as soon as he heard that Gwen and Rose were in danger. Jack was right beside him, pulling his gun. The Doctor narrowed his eyes, but didn't say anything. He still didn't like guns, but for some reason he didn't seem as opposed to them as he used to be, or better as the real Doctor was. Maybe it was because he was more human in this body, because part of Donna was in him, or because he had given up everything to be with Rose and really didn't want to lose her now. He didn't know, and he didn't really care either. All that mattered right now was keeping Rose safe. He had barely finished that thought when he heard gun shots.

Once inside the warehouse Rose and Gwen went to check out the Doctor looked around. There were stacks of unopened boxes and a lot of empty shelves. He quickly scanned their surroundings with his new sonic screwdriver. The energy readings were still all over the place and unfamiliar to him. He couldn't pinpoint them or the people shooting. Then more gunfire and a crashing sound echoed through the warehouse.

"This way," Jack called.

They turned around a corner and into a hallway between shelves. At the end of it they reached an open space, filled with more boxes. Rose and Gwen were hiding behind some of them. At the other end an alien was shooting. The Doctor didn't recognize the species, maybe they didn't exist in the other reality, or he simply had never come across them before. Jack started shooting immediately. Gwen and Rose joined in whilst trying to stay as hidden as possible. Then another alien showed up with a bigger gun and fired. The blast hit the boxes Rose and Gwen were behind, making them tumble down.

"No," the Doctor called as Rose was buried under boxes. He quickly ran to her, dodging fire. He was faintly aware that Jack shot one of the aliens. Gwen hit the other a moment later. Then he was next to Rose and pushed the boxes off her.

Gwen watched the aliens go down and exhaled in relief. Getting up she ignored the pain in her shoulder where one of the boxes had hit her and looked over to Rose and the Doctor.

"Is she okay?" she asked, feeling concerned about her friend.

"Her pulse is steady," the Doctor answered.

Gwen exhaled, feeling relieved, then Jack was next to her.

"You alright?" he asked looking her up and down, obviously checking for injuries. Gwen smiled up at him and nodded. A grin appeared on his face, but just as quickly as it showed up it disappeared again. Then, before Gwen knew what was happening, he pulled her against him just as another shot erupted. Spinning them around Jack positioned himself between her and the shooter. Gwen's eyes widened when she realized what was happening, but it was too late, there was nothing she could do. Jack's knees gave in and he started to fall. Gwen's left arm went around him while she started shooting with the other.

The Doctor's head snapped up when he heard another shot. One of the aliens apparently had only been wounded and was shooting again. Gwen returned fire, even as she held on to Jack and sank to her knees with him. The alien ducked and rushed off. The Doctor quickly moved to help Gwen with Jack and placed him on the ground.

"Nooo," Gwen exclaimed, looking down at Jack and the blood pooling around him. "Do something," she pleaded looking at the Doctor. "You can help him, can't you? You have to!"

xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx

Rose opened her eyes and looked around tiredly. It was dark, but she could tell that she was on the couch in the HUB of Torchwood 3. How had she gotten there? The last thing she remembered was being at that warehouse… and being shot at. She bolted upright.

"Rose."

Hearing the voice she turned to her left, then saw the Doctor sitting in an armchair.

"Doctor," she said silently. "Why are we in the dark?" For some reason she had a really bad feeling and being in the dark wasn't helping. The Doctor moved slightly and a table lamp switched on, illuminating the room slightly, including the Doctor's face. It didn't betray any emotion, but she could tell that something was wrong. Maybe she could see it in his eyes, or she simply knew him too well.

"What happened?" she asked, already dreading the answer.

"I'm sorry, Rose," he said, getting up and sitting down beside her before taking her hand.

Rose looked down at their hands, then slowly up at his face. For a moment she hesitated. She didn't want to ask any more questions. She was sure that she didn't actually want to know the answer. The Doctor held her gaze, not saying anything, as if he knew what she was thinking.

"Gwen?" she finally asked, her voice shaky. He shook his head.

"Jack."

Rose eyes widened. "But… Jack, he can't actually die. I mean, he came back…"

"This Jack wasn't like the Jack back home," the Doctor said, interrupting her. "He never met us, never was on Satellite Five, and was never brought back to life by Bad Wolf. He's not immortal, Rose. I am sorry."

Rose stared at the Doctor, unable to comprehend or accept what he was saying.

"But he can't be dead," she mumbled as tears started to well up in her eyes. The concept of Jack being immortal was so… right. He was simply larger than life. No, he couldn't just be gone. They needed him, Gwen needed him! Oh god, Gwen. Rose jumped up at the thought of her friend who had been so obviously in love with Jack.

"Gwen! Where is she?"

"The morgue," the Doctor said silently.

With the mention of the word morgue tears started to run down Rose's cheeks. That made it sound so… final.

"I have to go… talk to her." That said she rushed off. She didn't actually know where the morgue was, but she'd find it somehow. She had to. Gwen needed her.


	2. Chapter 2

When: 4 months after the events in Cardiff

Where: AU London

"Nooo," the Doctor screamed, cradling Rose's body in his arms. This could not be happening! He couldn't lose her, and especially not now, so shortly after she had finally come around and realized that she might love him, too, that he wasn't just a copy, but the man she always wanted.

Unfortunately, it _was_ happening: Rose was dead. There was no pulse, no spark of life left in her body. He held her close for a moment longer as tears ran down his face, allowing himself to feel the grief and let it consume him. Then he reluctantly let go of her, stood up and turned away. He couldn't lose even more time now. The aliens that killed her and Jack were getting away. He would not let that happen! They had to pay for what they had done, even if it was the last thing he did.

xxxxx xxxxx

Rose gasped, taking a deep breath. Then she sat up and looked down at her chest in shock and confusion. The aliens had shot her! She remembered the pain as bullets hit her and blood started to flow. Her shirt was still soaked in it, so it _had_ happened, but she felt fine now. There was no pain, none at all. There were no wounds either, she concluded after pulling her shirt up. How? How could this happen? Had the Doctor done this? No, he couldn't have. He was powerful, even in this half-human form, but not _that_ powerful.

_The Doctor_, she thought startled and looked around. Where was he? He had been there before she lost consciousness. She remembered the look on his face as she slipped away. If she hadn't already been sure that she was dying that look would have told her. Remembering the love, hurt and desperation in it took her breath away. He really did love her, and she loved him, too. She no longer cared that he wasn't the real Doctor. He was real to her, and he was the part of the Doctor that loved her. That was good enough for her. No, it was better than good. It was amazing, _they_ were amazing together. Being with him was everything she had ever hoped for, everything she imagined and more. She _loved_ him. But she hadn't told him. She needed to, she realized. First she had to find him though. Where was he? Why did he leave her? He would never leave her willingly… unless he thought she was dead. Was that what happened? Did he think she was dead? Or had he been captured by the aliens and taken away against his will? No matter what happened, she needed to find him!

Rose's hand went up to her ear, ready to tap her ear piece, but it wasn't there. She must have lost it in the fight with the aliens earlier. And her mobile was back in the car, she realized. She had forgotten it in her haste to go after the aliens. They were the ones that had killed Jack. After months of searching for them they had finally found them. Maybe that had made her a little too eager to get to them and not careful enough. She sighed. Well, without a radio or mobile she would just have to look for the Doctor.

xxxxx xxxxx

After searching for about ten minutes Rose heard gunfire. She ran down the corridor of the building she was in and opened the door at the end of it. Then she froze and had to watch in horror as the Doctor was hit by multiple shots.

"Nooo," she called running towards him, not even caring if she was hit as well. As she ran she was faintly aware that the alien left the room, but she couldn't worry about that right now. The Doctor was all that mattered.

Sinking to her knees next to the Doctor Rose leaned over him, much like she had done back home, when that Dalek shot the real Doctor.

"Doctor," she said desperately and quickly pulled off her jacket. There was so much blood. She had to stop it.

Hearing her voice the Doctor stirred. "Rose?" he asked, his voice sounding weak. "You're… here?"

"Yes, I'm right here. Just hold on, okay? Where's your phone? I'm going to call for help."

"But how? You were… dead," he said as if he hadn't even heard what she was saying.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me. In fact, don't worry about anything. I'm going to take care of you. You'll be fine," she promised while pulling the mobile out of his pocket.

"It's too late, Rose," the Doctor mumbled. "I'm… sorry. I should have been more careful. I thought… you were dead."

"It's _not_ too late!" Rose exclaimed, her eyes tearing up. "Don't even think like that!" She opened the phone, but the Doctor's hand closed around hers, stopping her.

"I love you," he whispered, then stilled.

"No, no, no!" Rose shouted. "Doctor! You can't die on me. You have to do something! Regenerate!" She no longer cared if he changed, as long as he didn't leave her, but she knew that this Doctor couldn't regenerate. He only had one life… the life he had wanted to spend with her. "No, don't leave me," she pleaded before shaking him slightly. "You can't leave! I'm not going to let you!"

As tears ran down her cheeks Rose noticed that she was starting to glow. She didn't know how, but her hands were bathed in a yellowish light, as was the rest of her body. Bad Wolf! Could it really be? The Doctor said he pulled it all out of her, but somehow she all of a sudden knew that that wasn't true. He might have pulled most of Bad Wolf out of her, but not all of it. Something had survived inside of her, just enough that it wouldn't kill her. It had been dormant, and now that she really needed it, it had awoken. Without even consciously thinking about it she placed her hands on the Doctor's lifeless form. It took only a few seconds, then his eyes snapped open and he took a deep breath.

"Doctor," she said, feeling relieved… and tired. She slumped down slightly, putting her hands on the ground to hold herself up.

"Rose… what… what happened? How?"

"Bad Wolf," she whispered, then lost consciousness.

xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx

The Doctor sat on a chair, watching Rose as she slept in her bed. She looked peaceful and not as pale anymore as she did when she collapsed. He had been concerned about her at first, but her pulse and breathing were steady. She had only been exhausted. Not that that was surprising. She had brought him back to life after all. No, Bad Wolf had brought him back. He wasn't sure how Bad Wolf could still be inside of her, he thought that he had removed it all from her, had even died to keep her safe from it. But apparently he had missed something. A part of Bad Wolf must have remained. How could he not have seen it? Had it kept itself hidden for all this time? Was it maybe dormant and undetectable? Had his death caused it to wake up? Or was it Rose's death? She had died as well after all. When she found him he had at first thought that he must have been mistaken before, that she had only been wounded. But now he didn't believe that anymore. She had died, and came back, just like Jack, and just like he would do from this day on, whenever he died. He was immortal now, too. He could feel it in every cell of his being. He had become a fixed point in time. It still felt wrong to him, but luckily Jack had managed to convince him that just because his timelord instincts thought that something was wrong didn't mean that it actually was. Like Jack put it, he had simply been prejudiced, and over time that feeling of wrongness would surely fade. After all, staying with Rose couldn't _be_ wrong. She had already lost him too many times, he never wanted to do that to her again, and now he never would have to. He could stay with her forever… if she wanted him to, a tiny part of his brain added, the part that still wasn't sure if Rose actually wanted him, or if she still just saw him as a copy of the man she loved.

"Doctor?" Her voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Rose," he said with a smile and went over to the bed, sitting down next to her and gently brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

"You're alive," she said looking up at him and feeling immensely relieved. For a moment she had feared that it had just been wishful thinking that Bad Wolf had taken over and helped her save him.

"Yes, I am, and I am never going to leave you again," he quickly promised seeing the look on her face.

"Never?" she asked as a tear ran down her cheek.

"Never," he agreed and wiped the tear away with his thump.

Rose smiled whilst taking his hand and intertwining their fingers. "Does that mean… did I… I mean, are you like Jack now? The Jack back home…"

"Yes," he answered.

Rose looked up at him, feeling a little uncertain. "What about me? Am I immortal, too?" She was the one who made him immortal, she didn't want to have done that to him and then leave him, especially after everything he gave up for her.

"I don't know," the Doctor admitted. "I think so, but… you feel different." He wasn't really sure how to explain it. Jack was a fixed point in time, and so was he. Rose now felt similar to that, but not quite the same.

"Different how? What does it mean?" she wanted to know.

"That you're special?" he offered with a smile. Yes, that definitely fit. Rose was the most special person he had ever met, and not just because of Bad Wolf. In his opinion Bad Wolf could only ever have started to exist _because_ Rose was special.

Rose smiled, liking the way he said it.

"I'm not really sure if you are a fixed point in time, but I don't think Bad Wolf will let you die. I guess that would make you immortal, too. And you did come back to life yesterday."

"Yeah, I did," Rose agreed. "Sounds pretty immortal to me. I guess that means you'll be stuck with me forever."

The Doctor snapped to attention at her words and a wide smile appeared on his face. "Forever with you seems like a pretty good deal to me."

Rose laughed and pushed herself up into a sitting position. "I love you," she said smiling. "And I mean _you_." She poked him in the chest. "You're _my_ Doctor."

The Doctor smiled happily, then leaned in and kissed her.


	3. Chapter 3

When: about 40 years later

Where: AU London suburbs

"I guess this is it," Rose stated looking at the four story building in front of them.

"Let's go," the Doctor said and started to run. Rose was on his heels, a small smile on her lips. They finally had them. After chasing the Tolaan for decades they had them trapped at last. Torchwood had the building surrounded. There was no way out. They wouldn't get away, not this time. It was fitting, too, since it had been exactly 40 years to the day since they saw them for the very first time, 40 years since they killed Jack. And now they'd pay for what they did to him and all the other people they killed over the years.

It took them about an hour to round up the guards and lower class Tolaan, rescue about two dozen humans they used for experiments, and fight their way into the heart of the building, where the leaders were.

"Wait out here and don't let anyone escape," Rose instructed her Torchwood colleagues before kicking the door open and entering the room guns blazing. The Doctor was right behind her, waving the sonic screwdriver and making sure the Tolaans' security system was offline. Rose was glad about that. The last time she and the Doctor found the Tolaans they had had an unfortunate encounter with the very same security system. She really didn't want to repeat the experience, immortal or not. Dying still sucked and usually hurt like hell.

Ducking behind a table Rose pushed it over to use it as cover against the Tolaan leaders, who of course were armed to the teeth. It had definitely been a good idea to leave the others outside. They weren't immortal after all.

"How many times do we have to kill you?" one of them called.

Rose gritted her teeth. It was the one who had shot and killed the Doctor all those years ago. No matter if she had been able to bring him back, she still hated that Tolaan more than all the others.

"I thought you would have figured it out by now," Rose answered in a taunting voice. "You can't kill us, no matter how often you try." She fired a few shots over the table before glancing at the Doctor next to her. "What is all this stuff?" She gestured around the room, where a lot of weird looking machines were beeping and making other strange noises.

"I'm not entirely sure," the Doctor answered before taking some reading with the sonic screwdriver. "I think they are analysing… something."

"_Something_? Like what?" Rose wanted to know.

The Doctor frowned as the sonic screwdriver hummed, then his eyes widened. "The rift, they are analysing the rift… and looking for something specific."

"The rift? From here? Why not in Cardiff?"

"I don't know," the Doctor answered just as a machine at the other end of the room started to blink. A second later the Tolaan began to laugh in a triumphant way.

"Finally," one of them called.

Rose looked at the Doctor for an explanation before deciding that no matter what the Tolaan meant it couldn't be anything good. She quickly moved to the edge of the table and started to fire above and next to it with both of her guns. Maybe she'd get lucky and hit one of them or destroy whatever they were so happy about.

"No, no, no," the Doctor exclaimed, then a light illuminated the room and the Tolaan stopped shooting.

"What?" Rose asked.

"They built their own version of a vortex manipulator!" the Doctor said before getting up.

"What are you doing?" Rose exclaimed and tried to pull him back down behind the relative safety of the table.

"They're gone, Rose."

Rose's eyes widened, then she stood up as well and looked around the room. Sure enough it was empty.

"Where did they go?" she asked. "Or better _when_?"

The Doctor pushed up his sleeve to reveal the vortex manipulator Gwen had given him after Jack's death. A Time Lord was supposed to be able to travel through time, she had said. It wasn't like he wouldn't have been able to build his own vortex manipulator if he had found the right components, but he preferred this one anyway; it had been Jack's after all.

"Who cares, let's just follow them," the Doctor decided with a grin, grabbed Rose's hand and with the sonic screwdriver made sure that they followed the traces left by the Tolaan. In a matter of seconds they disappeared.

xxxxx xxxxx

Rose groaned when they materialized.

"Yeah, time travel without a capsule… Never gets any easier," the Doctor stated and slightly shook his head to clear it.

"I really miss the TARDIS," Rose complained, but regretted it almost as soon as the words left her lips. The Doctor never talked about it, but she knew how much he missed his ship. The look on his face right now was testament to that.

"We're in Cardiff," the Doctor said a moment later.

Rose looked at him then her surroundings. They were in a dark room, probably an office of some kind. "How do you know?"

The Doctor pointed at his vortex manipulator. "But even if it didn't show Cardiff as our location I would have known. We're inside the Hub, Rose. This is Lisa Hallet's office."

"So they really are after the rift," Rose concluded whilst leaving the office and following the Doctor who was waving the sonic screwdriver, probably to find out where exactly the Tolaan were.

"Looks like it," the Doctor agreed. "Maybe they stayed away from it for the past years so we wouldn't know what they were after."

That made sense, Rose thought. If Torchwood knew that the Tolaan were after the rift they would have sent more employees to work for Torchwood 3. Not that that would have done any good, since it seemed to be the middle of the night right now. There was no one around. As soon as Rose had finished that thought gun shots echoed through the Hub, as if trying to prove her wrong.

xxxxx xxxxx

"Gwen?" Rose called surprised when she saw her friend, who was hiding behind a desk and shooting at the Tolaan. She hadn't seen her in almost 40 years. After Jack's death Gwen hadn't really wanted them around. They reminded her too much of Jack. Rose hadn't wanted to leave her, but respected her wishes. She and the Doctor went back to London, and she stayed in contact with Gwen mostly through e-mail, hoping that one day Gwen would realize that she wanted her friends around again. Unfortunately about six months after Jack's death Gwen disappeared. Some had speculated that Jack's death had been too much for her and she ran off, others thought it might have had something to do with unusually high rift activity the night after Gwen had last been at work. Rose had thought that the rift must have taken her, because no matter how badly Gwen took Jack's death, she didn't think Gwen would ever run off and stop hunting the aliens that killed him.

"Rose? Doctor?" Gwen asked surprised. "I haven't even had a chance to call for backup yet."

Rose smirked. "Mind if we help anyway?" she asked whilst ducking behind another desk and starting to shoot as well.

"Be my guest," Gwen replied with a hint of a smile.

Rose grinned, happy to see her friend again.

"Rose, this is it," the Doctor whispered next to her. Rose turned to him, not sure what he was talking about.

"The night the rift acted up, and the night Gwen disappeared. It's happening right now. We travelled back in time to it."

Rose's eyes widened. All this time she had had no idea what really happened to Gwen; and now here they were, right in the middle of everything. She'd find out first hand what happened.

"You don't think the Tolaan got her?" she asked. "I'm not going to let that happen!"

"No we won't," the Doctor agreed. He hadn't been able to save Jack, and hadn't been able to save Gwyneth, Gwen's ancestor… or well, the ancestor of the Gwen back in their own reality. He would not let anything happen to Gwen now.

"They are opening the rift," Gwen called. "We have to stop them."

Before Rose could say anything Gwen jumped out from behind her desk and went towards the Tolaan, shooting at them with two guns. Rose cursed and quickly followed. They advanced side by side, taking down at least 4 Tolaan in the process, then the Doctor tackled them from behind. They hit the floor just as a blast soared above their heads and ended up ripping a large hole through one of the desks. The next second the remaining Tolaan roared in triumph, then disappeared in a greenish light at the same time as an alarm went off.

"No!" Gwen exclaimed scrambling to her feet and rushing over to one of the computers.

"Where did they go?" Rose asked glancing at the Doctor. "Can we follow them again?"

The Doctor was already fumbling with the sonic screwdriver and looking at his vortex manipulator, his eyes narrowing. "No, no, no," he exclaimed whilst a wind was starting to ruffle his hair.

"They opened the rift," Gwen exclaimed and pushed away a paper that soared towards her through the air. "We have to close it."

Rose looked from the Doctor to Gwen, a frown on her face. The Tolaan couldn't have gotten away again, could they? Had they opened the rift to make sure they wouldn't be followed? She sighed and went to join Gwen. No matter how much she hated it, closing the rift was more important right now. It was simply too dangerous to be left active for a moment longer than necessary. Every second it was open it could displace someone else in time and space.

"Enter your security code to close it," Gwen shouted over the noise of the alarm and the stronger getting wind inside the Hub.

Rose nodded and started typing.

"No, wait," the Doctor called. "The Tolaan escaped through the rift. If we close it we can't follow."

"But we have to close it," Gwen exclaimed. "It could destroy everything!"

"I know," he answered. "One of us has to stay behind to close it."

"Oh no," Gwen said firmly. "They killed Jack, I'm not staying behind!"

The wind was getting stronger by the second and Rose was having difficulties understanding the others, but that wasn't the worst, neither was the blaring alarm or the objects soaring through the Hub. She barely registered those. The rift was getting stronger and she could _feel_ it in every cell of her being. It was as if it was calling to her, showing her things. Her mind seemed to connect with it on a level she couldn't fully comprehend.

"Bad Wolf," she whispered. It wasn't really her the rift connected with, it was Bad Wolf. Over the years Rose had learned to understand Bad Wolf better and tap into its power occasionally, but she still didn't understand most of what was happening when Bad Wolf actually awoke. The only thing she was absolutely sure of was that Bad Wolf only decided to take over when it was absolutely necessary. Like right now, she thought as she started to comprehend what was going on.

"The Tolaan used the rift to cross over to another universe," she said as her skin started to glow.

"Rose?!" Gwen exclaimed, staring at her.

"Everything they did was in order to find a way home," Rose continued. She could actually sympathise with that. When she had been stuck in this world without the Doctor she had wanted nothing more than to get back home either. The difference was that Rose wouldn't have killed innocents for it.

"We can follow them and I can close the rift whilst we're leaving."

"Rose, are you sure you can do this?" the Doctor asked, sounding concerned.

"Bad Wolf can," Rose assured him. "And don't worry about me. Like you said, Bad Wolf would never let me die." That said she let go, allowing Bad Wolf to take over. Glowing brighter than before she held her hands out to Gwen and the Doctor, then smiled at him.

"We're going home."


End file.
